Saudi Arabian protests

Demonstrators in the Middle East have protested against the killing of Shiite cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr in Saudi Arabia.

Demonstrators burn tires during a protest, against the execution of prominent Shiite cleric Nimr al-Nimr by Saudi authorities, in Manama, Bahrain

The campaign led to hundreds of tweets using the hashtag ‘#TogetherToEndMaleGuardianship’ from people all over the world showing support for social reform in Saudi.

But in court, authorities blamed the defendant for starting the Twitter storm.

In September, 14,500 Saudi Arabian women signed a petition calling for an end to male guardianship, which was presented to the royal court.

Women’s rights activists in Saudi Arabia have repeatedly called on the government to abolish the male guardianship system, which the government agreed to do in 2009 and again in 2013 after its Universal Periodic Review (UPR) at the United Nations Human Rights Council.

Following both hearings, Saudi Arabia took limited steps to reform certain aspects of the guardianship system. But these changes remain incomplete and ineffective and the guardianship system remains mostly intact.